When whipping up some modular encounters or scenes, how vague / detailed do you prefer?
Is "Person in Red" / "Library" / "Candlestick" enough or do you need more details and context to actually use it in a game as a building block?

Also, how much can you reuse them by changing some details before they get "stale"?

One thing I learnt is that, no matter how detailed your descriptions are, people will always see in their heads what they want.

"The best thing about that castle was how everything was in the shadows. How atmospheric!" "Er... No area in the castle was in shadows..." "Strange. I'm pretty sure that everything was..."

This even if no one ever got a bonus in their "to hide" rolls while in that castle.  I lost track of how much times I had this conversation.

I recently ran a game where an important NPC was a young female druid of Eldath (the Goddess of Pacifism, Quiet and Forest Pools in the Forgotten Realms). She was in peril and in need of protection. For a quick reference I pointed to Jennifer Connelly at the beginning of "Labyrinth". I even showed her picture on my iPad.



What I got in the game ranged from a polite "I ask to the old, wise woman..." to a straightforward "How can she possibly be around in the wilderness dressed like that?!" (because they had looked "Jennifer Connelly Labyrinth Dress" on their phones, somehow missing the "druid" part... 



(Edit: Only now I realise that I should have answered "SHE IS DISGUISED!)

Since I got my first tablet back in 2013 I always keep a collection of references for the current adventure - characters, places, architectures... I simply do not expect anymore for the players to understand how "You see this..." means that they are seeing that.

>Not showing them a pic of big chungus instead.
ngmi fren.

Quote from: Greentongue on March 18, 2021, 01:20:40 PM
When whipping up some modular encounters or scenes, how vague / detailed do you prefer?
Is "Person in Red" / "Library" / "Candlestick" enough or do you need more details and context to actually use it in a game as a building block?

Also, how much can you reuse them by changing some details before they get "stale"?

Depends how intricate the scenario is. Political or murder mystery scenarios, pretty detailed oft times. Adventure, action style scenarios, archetypes will generally do.

I was thinking of a step above rolling on tables.
Something that was very "Plug & Play" as well as reusable with just a little "repaint".

The first Starwars without the knowledge of any other SW material is a good yard stick.

The Farmboy who wants adventure.
The Wise Old Man in the desert
The Defiant princess etc etc

Also evocative titles and unexplained events go a long way to fleshing out an adventure in the minds of the players without you needing to do much work.

The Clone Wars, The Emperor, the Galactic Senate. None of these appear in the movie or are given much explanation.

Personally I think the thing that makes modular scenarios pop is to find a way of adding something (generally an opponent) that the players or yourself rarely face/use.

As for reusing the same scenario with a few tweaks. Quite dependant on the type of game.  Can definitely work but don't be surprised if the players start getting quite meta about it "obviously the wizard is going to betray us" etc.

In military style games like Deathwatch this can actually work to your advantage to simulate tactical experience. ("Ok you know the drill, watch for Lictor infiltrators coming out the wall"). Players will get more fun knowing that they've been rewarded for learning

For other scenarios it may just be stale.
 

The pics of Jennifer Connolly definitely the best part of this thread so far. 

I use a lot of photo/art references for NPCs, they tend to give a sense of personality far better than a column of text. Then I develop the personality in play, whatever seems most fun - this can sometimes make a 'serious' character more comedic; that's ok.

I don't really pre-plan 'scenes' or 'encounters'; I do tend to develop maps & then maybe think about what might go on that map. I use a lot of random generation though.